Service Update from Kenny Rocker, EVP, Marketing & Sales
Announcement Number: CN2019-22
Categories: General Announcements
Posted Date: April 5, 2019
To Our Customers,
As you are aware, over the past couple months we have faced many challenges due to several extreme weather events, including blizzard conditions, record snowfall and widespread catastrophic flooding across our network. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our recovery crews, we have made significant progress restoring operations throughout the Midwest, and as a result, our performance metrics are showing signs of improvement.
I’d like to quickly emphasize a couple of points:
- Over the past week, we have opened five of the seven flood-impacted subdivisions and our central east/west corridor has also opened, restoring a critical artery to our rail network.
- We are intensely focused on recovery and monitor our progress daily. Damage assessments and repairs are in progress on our rail line between Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Kansas City, Kansas. Crews continue to monitor flood conditions in St. Paul, Minnesota, and we are also keeping a close eye on potential flood risks in the Kansas City area.
For real-time updates on track outages, current news impacting our network and information on how to notify our Customer Care & Support team of any service issues you are facing, visit our Flood Planning and Recovery web page.
Focused on Communication
While the recent weather events have negatively affected our network, they have not degraded our commitment to provide you with reliable service updates and ongoing communication when you need it most.
Since early February, we have delivered over a dozen service updates, providing the latest information on outages, including photos of the affected areas, and helpful resources to assist you as we implement recovery efforts. These ongoing communications are intended to help you better understand the situation and plan your supply chain needs accordingly.
Our goal is to keep each and every customer informed. I am pleased to confirm we have recently expanded our communications platform to proactively reach more than 9,000 users through our general customer announcements system — a significant increase compared to the 2,000 users previously part of our engagement strategy.
Thank You
On a bright note, our service product is becoming more reliable with each day that passes. More crews are available for work, fewer weather interruptions have occurred and empties continue to fall back into balance. Thanks for hanging in there with us through these unprecedented weather challenges. I look forward to sharing more progress with you as we work to improve your experience as a Union Pacific customer.
Kenny Rocker
Executive Vice President, Marketing & Sales